Written Answers Tuesday 8 September 2009

Allotments

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many allotments there have been in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

John Swinney: This information is not held centrally. Allotment provision is the responsibility of individual local authorities as independent corporate bodies.

Communities

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what projects in Dumfries and Galloway have been funded under the Cashback for Communities scheme.

Fergus Ewing: The following projects specific to Dumfries and Galloway have been awarded funding totalling £61,000 from the CashBack for Communities scheme.

  

Youthlink funding round 1
Awarded


Youth Alive (Dumfries and Galloway)
£3,000


Portpatrick Friday Night Club and Café
£1,165


The Base Summerhill Youth Group
£5,400



  

Youthlink funding round 2
 


Mossburn Community Farm
£5,250


Dumfries YMCA
£21,885


Summerhill Community Centre Management Committee
£12,700


You Are Not Alone Family Support Services
£6,835


Dumfries and Galloway Youth Strategy Executive Group
£2,518


Volunteer Action Dumfries and Galloway
£2,247



  In addition, Dumfries and Galloway has also benefited from several national CashBack projects, such as Street Football, Midnight League, Street Rugby and Rugby Youth Coaching Courses.

Employment

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the Stage 3 debate on the Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Bill on 4 February 2009 ( Official Report , c. 14650), how many of the 18,500 new apprentices have been recruited, what sectors these are in and when the apprenticeship placements will begin.

Fiona Hyslop: Skills Development Scotland publish management information relating to modern apprenticeships quarterly. Information on quarter one of this year, April to June can be found online at:

  http://www.sscalliance.org/ModernApprenticeshipsScotland/AboutMAG.aspx.

  Skills Development Scotland will publish information relating to quarter two, July to September, in October.

  The Modern Apprenticeship Programme undertakes rolling recruitment in Scotland. As a result apprenticeship placements will start on an on-going basis between now and March 2009. However, quarter two has traditionally been the peak period for new starts to the apprenticeship programme in Scotland.

Employment

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25156 by Fiona Hyslop on 17 August 2009, how many of the training opportunities delivered in 2007-08 and 2008-09 are modern apprenticeships at (a) level two and (b) level three.

Fiona Hyslop: All of the modern apprenticeships delivered in 2007-08 and 2008-09 were SVQ level 3 (SCQF level 6).

  The first level 2 (SCQF 5) modern apprenticeship frameworks were approved by the Modern Apprenticeship Group in October 2008. As a result 2009-10 will be the first year in which level 2 apprenticeships will be delivered in Scotland.

Employment

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25156 by Fiona Hyslop on 17 August 2009, how it is recording the creation and delivery of training opportunities on an annual basis and how the figure of more than 50,000 training opportunities for each of the years 2007-08 and 2008-09 was reached.

Fiona Hyslop: Skills Development Scotland records the total number of people starting on modern apprenticeships, Skillseekers, Training for Work and Get Ready for Work training programmes, and the number of courses started with support from Individual Learning Accounts.

Equalities

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Irish organisations in Scotland it has contacted in order to promote dialogue about identity and the meaning of multiculturalism or pluralism in modern-day Scotland in accordance with the Scottish Government Race Equality Statement of 8 December 2008.

Alex Neil: The dialogue around identity and the meaning of multiculturalism or pluralism in modern day Scotland is being taken forward in partnership with a range of stakeholders including Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure Scotland (BEMIS) and Council for Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO). These stakeholders are in turn in contact with a range of communities, and we would expect that they would engage those communities, including the Irish Community organisations. It is our intention to involve as many minority ethnic communities as possible, including the Irish community, in our work around identity and multiculturalism. The race conference planned for early 2010 will provide an excellent opportunity to focus on these issues and the Irish community organisations will be invited to attend.

Equalities

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £5.6 million allocated in relation to its Race Equality Scheme 2008-2011 has been allocated to projects representing the Irish community in Scotland.

Alex Neil: The 33 projects allocated funding under the Race, Religion and Refugee Integration Funding Stream are benefiting a wide range of diverse minority ethnic communities. Many of these projects are open to members of all minority ethnic communities, including the Irish community. We did not receive any funding applications for projects from organisations targeting Irish communities.

Finance

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the use of tax increment financing as a method for financing public sector investment such as the Ravenscraig development, what conclusions it reached in relation to this methodology and for what reasons.

John Swinney: The option of tax increment financing (TIF) is currently being explored as one of a number of possible ways to fund new infrastructure development in Scotland. Work on potential TIF pilots is being led by individual councils together with the Scottish Futures Trust, in consultation with the Scottish Government, COSLA and other partners. One of the objectives of the Scottish Futures Trust in its Business Plan for 2009-10 is to examine the TIF structure to assess whether it is replicable in suitable areas of Scotland. The Scottish Government is supporting this work. All emerging TIF proposals would be assessed on their individual merits.

Finance

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the accelerated capital programme funding for 2009-10 has been (a) spent and (b) committed, also showing where the money has been spent.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the accelerated capital programme funding for 2009-10 has been (a) spent and (b) committed.

John Swinney: To date all of the £294 million 2009-10 capital acceleration has been committed. Accelerated funding has so far been spent on a range of initiatives including Park and Ride projects, major road infrastructure projects, Fife Energy Park and Affordable Housing Investment Programme.

Finance

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what systems are in place to track spending on the accelerated capital programme.

John Swinney: All expenditure is monitored by portfolio Finance Teams on a regular monthly basis and reported in the consolidated accounts annually.

Finance

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what independent mechanisms are in place to measure the impact on the economy of the accelerated capital programme, including job creation and public service delivery.

John Swinney: The accelerated capital spending programme is distributed across key areas of government expenditure, with a considerable amount of the programme being taken forward by local authorities, and public sector agencies.

  Each area of the Scottish Government – along with local authorities and public sector agencies – monitor delivery against their capital spending programmes. The on-going evaluations within these programmes will capture the respective impacts of the accelerated capital spending.

  Estimates of the employment impacts of the accelerated capital programme have been produced using the Scottish Government input-output model. This information was presented in Preparing for Recovery: Update on the Scottish Economic Recovery Programme, which was published on 15 June 2009.

Finance

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish a full assessment of the impact on the economy of the accelerated capital programme, including job creation and public service delivery.

John Swinney: The accelerated capital spending programme is distributed across key areas of government expenditure, with a considerable proportion of the programme being taken forward by local authorities, and public sector agencies. As well as supporting jobs through maximising the employment opportunities that are available in the Scottish economy, the programme will also lead to improved infrastructure which will enhance the long-term competitiveness of the Scottish economy.

  Each area of the Scottish Government – along with local authorities and public sector agencies – monitor delivery against their capital spending programmes. The on-going evaluations within these programmes will capture the respective impacts of the accelerated capital spending.

  Estimates of the employment impacts of the accelerated capital programme have been produced using the Scottish Government input-output model. This information was published in Preparing for Recovery: Update on the Scottish Economic Recovery Programme, which was published on 15 June 2009.

Finance

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information is available on the impact on the economy of the accelerated capital programme.

John Swinney: Estimates of the impact of the accelerated capital programme on the economy have been produced using the Scottish Government input-output model. This information was presented in Preparing for Recovery: Update on the Scottish Economic Recovery Programme , which was published on 15 June 2009.

First Minister

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what further communication it has had with Hong Kong Electric International regarding investment opportunities in Scotland following the First Minister’s recent trip to China.

Michael Russell: Following the First Minister’s visit to China in April Scottish Development International facilitated a teleconference between Hong Kong Electric International Ltd, the Energy Technology Partnership, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Electric on 6 July to discuss future investment opportunities in offshore grid connections.

First Minister

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what further communication it has had with the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine Science following the First Minister’s recent trip to China.

Michael Russell: The signing of the partnership agreement between Neogen Europe and the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quaratine (CAIQ) on 19 May to create a jointly funded laboratory followed the First Minister’s visit to China in April.

First Minister

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what further communication it has had with ASIApharm following the First Minister’s recent trip to China.

Michael Russell: Following the visit by the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, to China in April, Ms Hyslop met with a delegation from Asiapharm and the Shandong Provincial Government Science and Technology Department to Scotland on 2 June to discuss future opportunities in life sciences

Housing

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25911 by Alex Neil on 3 August 2009, what action is being taken following the publication of the Inclusion Scotland report, Freedom of Information research into accessible housing for disabled people in Scotland , published in June 2009, which suggested that Falkirk Council held no information on how disabled people were involved in setting the priorities of its local housing strategy.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government and COSLA jointly published guidance on local housing strategies in 2008. The guidance indicates that the housing need of the six equality strands should be written into the local housing strategy. I understand that Falkirk Council intend to consult with a range of stakeholders over the course of 2009-10 when preparing their next full local housing strategy, and are also modifying the structures that are in place to support this process. The Scottish Government continues to support all councils in developing their local housing strategies through on-going liaison and, through this route, promote the importance of the involvement of all equalities groups.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which Scottish Government guidance stipulates national minimum standards for Care and Repair.

Alex Neil: National minimum standards for Care and Repair are detailed in the publication Care and Repair Standards and Guidance (2004) . This is available to view at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/26800/0023526.pdf.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been established at a national level for measuring the effectiveness of Care and Repair.

Alex Neil: There are 12 Care and Repair national indicators introduced with effect from April 1999. These can be seen at:

  http://www.careandrepairscotland.co.uk/static/docs/performance_indicators2006_07.pdf.

  However, these national indicators focus on monitoring inputs and outputs rather than outcomes. While it is important to measure these, there are questions about whether the current measures are fit for purpose and whether these provide the evidence to judge how effective the service is in delivering local and national outcomes.

  The recently published review of Care and Repair therefore recommends the introduction of a national performance monitoring framework to measure the outcomes of Care and Repair agencies, to allow them to benchmark their achievements against others, and to be able to articulate how this contributes to local and national housing priorities, to the housing contribution to the health and social care agenda and to the Scottish Government’s Purpose. We are now taking this forward. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/08/12134857/0.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many homeowners have benefited from the mortgage to rent scheme since January 2009.

Alex Neil: Since January 2009, 183 households have benefited from the mortgage to rent scheme.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many homeowners have benefited from the mortgage to shared equity scheme since January 2009.

Alex Neil: The Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) scheme was introduced on 16 March 2009. So far, nine households have been eligible for consideration. We wrote to these households and offered them the opportunity to proceed through the MTSE scheme and so far:

  five opted to progress through the Mortgage to Rent scheme (MTR) instead;

  two replies are currently outstanding, and

  two have withdrawn their applications completely.

Housing

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will maintain the subsidy level at £25,000 per unit for local authorities that wish to embark on programmes of new-build housing for social rent.

Alex Neil: Local authorities have been invited to submit applications for a second round of funding to incentivise the construction of new council housing at a subsidy of up to £25,000 per unit. No decision has been taken yet on whether or how to extend support for councils to help them build new housing beyond the 2nd round nor on any future level of subsidy.

Housing

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21079 by John Swinney on 11 March 2009, how many community councils are now registered as subscribers to the Directorate for the Built Environment’s e-alert system, broken down by local authority area.

John Swinney: As of 3 September 2009, 8,816 stakeholders have subscribed to the Directorate for the Built Environment’s e-alert system. Of this, 311 are identified as representatives of community councils. The breakdown by each local authority is:

  

Aberdeen City Council 
8


Aberdeenshire Council
15


Angus Council
1


Argyll and Bute Council
17


Clackmannanshire Council
2


Dumfries and Galloway
20


Dundee City Council
1


East Ayrshire Council
5


East Dunbartonshire Council
4


East Lothian Council
5


East Renfrewshire Council
3


Edinburgh City Council
16


Eilean Siar Comhairle
1


Falkirk Council
4


Fife Council
26


Glasgow City Council
9


Highland Council
45


Inverclyde Council
3


Midlothian Council
8


Moray Council
7


North Ayrshire Council
9


North Lanarkshire Council
8


Orkney Islands Council
0


Perth and Kinross Council
19


Renfrewshire Council
3


Scottish Borders Council
19


Shetland Islands Council
3


South Ayrshire Council
10


South Lanarkshire Council
12


Stirling Council
13


West Dunbartonshire Council
6


West Lothian Council
9


Total
311

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to ensure improvement of social work and prisons access to the Violent and Sex Offenders Register (ViSOR) to enhance information sharing.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government is already working closely with Scottish stakeholders and the National Policing Improvement Agency to enhance information sharing across the public protection network by improving access to ViSOR.

  There are 68 ViSOR terminals now available for use in Criminal Justice Social Work with a further eight terminals soon to be deployed. This, in addition to improvements in technical functionality to save staff time and the provision of specialist training, will result in greater use of ViSOR by Criminal Justice Social Work.

  The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) currently has access to a ViSOR terminal and inputs data prior to the release of sex offenders. In the longer term, SPS is considering the feasibility of developing electronic links between ViSOR and its own IT system.

  Staff in the Scottish Government’s Health Directorate who deal with restricted patients are also being provided with access to ViSOR.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to address concerns set out in Multi-agency inspection: Assessing and managing offenders who present a high risk of serious harm 2009 , regarding inadequate social work plans for serious violent offenders and sex offenders, with reference to the quality of the plans, evidence of risk management within them, and the failure to carry out subsequent home and unannounced visits as part of them.

Kenny MacAskill: National Objectives and Standards for the delivery of social work services in the criminal justice system, with the associated guidance, set out the principles of planning and preparation for release and supervision of offenders in the community.

  We plan to introduce a revised and updated version of these standards, which will provide a concise statement of core processes and practices to be applied in a variety of duties and contexts, including risk assessment and case management

  We are also working with local authorities to introduce the Level of Service Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI) which will introduce a common approach to risk assessment and case management for criminal justice social work and other responsible authorities. This approach includes a method for assessing the nature, pattern and seriousness of offending and where a risk of harm is identified it provides a framework for risk management planning. The method of delivery for this project is currently subject to a national consultation exercise, which will also aims to establish the quality assurance framework which will support long term delivery of consistent approaches to risk assessment and risk management.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a national review of the joint and integrated working practices in place between police, social work services, co-located units and other relevant agencies, in order to identify and disseminate good practice.

Kenny MacAskill: Yes. The Scottish Government accepts and supports the recommendation on integrated working arrangements contained in the joint report by the Social Work Inspection Agency, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland and HM Inspectorate of Prisons on the inspection of the management of high risk offenders. Officials are currently working with the Inspectorates and key stakeholders to examine the options for taking forward this recommendation, and build on the existing examples of co-location and partnership working referred to in the report.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that every sex offender and serious violent offender on supervision has a full and current risk of harm assessment that is available to all tasked with the responsibility of risk management.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Executive is working with agencies to introduce the Level of Service Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI) which aims to introduce a common approach for risk assessment and case management across agencies tasked with managing offenders. The version of LS/CMI proposed for use across agencies also includes a method for assessing the nature, pattern and seriousness of the offending and, where a risk of serious harm is identified, provides a framework for risk management planning.

Justice

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has given East Renfrewshire Council on monitoring the terms of the licence under which Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has been released.

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has given East Renfrewshire Council on enforcing the terms of the licence under which Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has been released.

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has told East Renfrewshire Council to take if Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi fails to meet the terms of the licence under which he has been released.

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with East Renfrewshire Council on the local authority’s role and duties with regard to the licence under which Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has been released.

Kenny MacAskill: Local Authority Social Work Departments work to the National Objectives and Standards for Social Work Services in the Criminal Justice System, which set out their roles and responsibilities in respect of the prisoners and those who will be subject to statutory supervision post release.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners released on compassionate grounds were foreign nationals and how many of them remained in Scotland on release in each of the last five years

Kenny MacAskill: In addition to Mr Megrahi, one foreign national has been released on compassionate grounds in the last five years. He did not remain in Scotland on release.

Justice

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any costs incurred by requiring East Renfrewshire Council to monitor the movements of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in Libya will be funded directly by the Scottish Government or whether these costs will be met by council tax payers in East Renfrewshire.

Kenny MacAskill: East Renfrewshire Council is not responsible for monitoring the movements of Mr Megrahi in Libya. They are responsible for supervising compliance with the terms of the compassionate release licence. Any associated costs are met in the same way as costs of supervising any other prisoner released on licence, through funding allocated by the Scottish Government through Community Justice Authorities.

Justice

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners granted compassionate release have been given freedom to travel abroad when the terms of the relevant release licence are monitored by a Scottish local authority.

Kenny MacAskill: The licences of prisoners granted early release on compassionate grounds routinely allow travel abroad subject to the approval of the individual’s supervising officer.

Justice

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, in the event that East Renfrewshire Council reports that it believes that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has breached the terms of his release, how the Scottish Government intends to recall him to custody.

Kenny MacAskill: The powers of the Scottish Ministers and the Parole Board for Scotland are set out in section 17 of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993. The processes for any recall are the same as for any other prisoner released on licence and who is now outside of Scotland, including those foreign nationals who are deported on release.

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-26717 by Kenny MacAskill on 4 September 2009, for what reason this information is not available and whether it intends to collect such information in future.

Kenny MacAskill: A large volume of correspondence has been received, in a variety of formats and by a variety of routes, expressing views either supportive of or opposing the decisions I took in relation to Mr Megrahi. It would not be a good use of public resources to spend time simply counting and categorising this correspondence.

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-26694 by Kenny MacAskill on 4 September 2009, whether it considers that under the terms of the bilateral prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) between the UK and Libyan governments there is no obligation to meet a prisoner in prison but rather a suggestion that any prisoner subject to the PTA should be "invited to make written representations", which should then be taken into account when determining whether or not the transfer should proceed.

Kenny MacAskill: The terms of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement between the UK and Libya make no reference to the views of the prisoner into account. As outlined in my statements on 20 and 24 August, the commitment that a prisoner should be able to make representations was given by the Secretary of State. The reasons for my visit to Mr Megrahi were set out in those statements, and again in the debate on 2 September.

Licensing

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) personal and (b) premises liquor licences were (i) applied for and (ii) received by 1 September 2009, broken down by licensing board area.

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many licensees have not applied for a new personal licence to sell liquor.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally

Licensing

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many liquor licences were in force on 31 December 2008.

Kenny MacAskill: The most recent information available for licences in force is in the Scottish Liquor Licensing Statistics 2007 which showed that there were 17,021 liquor licences in force on 31 December 2007.

  The number of licences in force on 31 December 2007 does not equate to the number of licensed premises operating. For example, a number of premises maintained current licences even though the businesses concerned no longer operated, and other businesses operated with two or more licences covering one premises.

  The Scottish Liquor Licensing Statistics 2007 can be accessed on the following link.

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/11160147/22.

Licensing

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that licensing boards expedite outstanding personal and premises liquor licences.

Kenny MacAskill: As set out in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 the administration of the licensing regime is a matter for licensing boards.

Licensing

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has provided instructions to licensing boards regarding when it expects outstanding licences to have been received by the licensees.

Kenny MacAskill: The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 was implemented in line with the timetable put in place by the previous administration. To be able to sell alcohol from 1 September 2009 applications for premises licenses had to be submitted by 28 February 2009 providing a reasonable amount of time for licensing board to process applications.

  As set out in the 2005 act the administration of the licensing system is a matter for licensing boards and the Scottish Government will therefore not provide instructions to licensing boards about how they should handle licence applications.

Licensing

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish a full assessment of the impact on the economy of the new licensing legislation.

Kenny MacAskill: Work is being commissioned by the Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group on Alcohol (MERGA) to evaluate the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and, at my request, the Accounts Commission will also examine the impact of the act. We will consider carefully any recommendations made or matters arising from these processes.

Prison Service

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve facilities for training for employment in HMP Cornton Vale.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Currently Cornton Vale has training for employment facilities in the following areas:

  Garden Maintenance;

  Bike Repair;

  Industrial Cleaning;

  Hairdressing;

  Craft Production;

  Laundry;

  Cooking, and

  Education Facility.

  In line with SPS Employment Policy Cornton Vale is continually looking at the potential to improve their training for employment facilities. Consideration is currently being given to extending the scope of industrial cleaning opportunities to include window cleaning and also to making improvements to delivery of lifeskills.

Procurement

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of payment times in publicly funded subcontract chains.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the rates of compliance with prompt-payment clauses in public contracts.

John Swinney: No formal assessment has been undertaken, although it is reasonable to assume that general business concerns regarding prompt payment also apply in the case of public sector supply chains. The Scottish Government’s own standard terms and conditions of contract have, for some time, required prime contractors to pay their sub-contractors promptly. Our standard contracts have now been amended to require prompt payment throughout the supply chain within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice. The new clause requires the contracting body to specify an individual to whom non-compliance of the terms and conditions should be reported.

Procurement

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what formal definition is used to assess whether projects are (a) in procurement, (b) approaching procurement and (c) in prospect.

John Swinney: The definition consistently used for projects (a) in procurement, is when a project has been advertised to the market by being published in the Official Journal of the European Union to invite a tendering process. For (b) approaching procurement, this is when an Outline Business Case has been approved and the project is being prepared for the market and for (c) in prospect, this is when an Outline Business Case has yet to be approved or prepared for the project.

Regeneration

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason communities in the Highlands and Islands region did not receive a larger share of the first round of funding from the Town Centre Regeneration Fund.

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason funding applications to the Town Centre Regeneration Fund from the Highlands and Islands region were not more successful.

Alex Neil: I can confirm that all applications were subject to the same four stage assessment process: an initial sift to check eligibility, scoring against key assessment criteria for the fund, consideration of the ranked order by an Independent Advisory Panel before final deliberation by myself and ministerial colleagues. Our decisions were guided by the extent to which projects demonstrated that they met the aims of the fund, whilst taking as much account of geographic spread as was possible.

  The assessment process is detailed in full on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/regeneration/town-centres/tcrf/FeedbackFAQs.

Renewable Energy

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many microgenerators are registered under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) scheme, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) generator capacity size.

Jim Mather: This information is not held centrally.

  The Scottish Government does not hold information on accredited generators under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland). Ofgem however hold a register in the public domain which lists generators and their capacity by country level. This can be found on their website:

  http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/Environment/RenewablStat/Documents1/accredited_less_50kW_ROCCL.xls.

Renewable Energy

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding from the first round of the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme (a) was spent and (b) remains unused and whether it plans to take back any unused funds.

Jim Mather: As of September 2009, we have allocated £2.196 million to WATES projects, and a further £0.75 million on the infrastructure needed to deploy them at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.

  This leaves £8.459 million of WATES project money and over £2 million of related infrastructure funding still to be drawn down. Four of the eight WATES projects are complete, with the remainder still on track for completion by March 2011. This means that, as things stand, there will be no unused funds.

Renewable Energy

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a second round of the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme or similar scheme, as recommended by the Marine and Energy Group’s Marine Energy Road Map.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government welcomes the recommendations which accompanied the industry-led Marine Energy Group’s Marine Energy Road Map. We are considering these recommendations carefully. In the meantime, we are continuing to provide support to several projects which were awarded grants under the first WATES round.

Renewable Energy

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide direct capital or revenue support to marine energy companies to enable them to further develop full-scale marine energy prototypes through to commercial fruition.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government is continuing to provide direct capital support to several projects which were awarded grants under the first WATES round. We expect some of these projects to start receiving revenue payments in the near future, following their successful deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.

  We have also introduced the highest levels of revenue support for wave and tidal power within the UK, following recent changes to our Renewables Obligation legislation with five ROCs for wave and three ROCs for tidal stream projects.

  The Scottish Government also welcomes the proposed £22 million Marine Energy Proving Fund, announced by DECC and which will be available for projects across the UK. This fund will build on our successful WATES scheme, supporting the testing and demonstration of pre-commercial wave and tidal stream devices.

  We have also introduced the £10 million Saltire Prize challenge, which will attract international investment in the commercial deployment of marine renewables in Scottish waters.

Renewable Energy

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being made available to provide onshore and offshore infrastructure to better enable wave and tidal developments.

Jim Mather: The emerging offshore renewable sectors will need sound infrastructure, and a strong and responsive supply chain. These are critical issues, pinpointed in our Renewables Action Plan and the recently published Marine Energy Road Map. The Scottish Government is working with its partners to look at the improvements which are needed and how they might be delivered.

  Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) are carrying out a strategic assessment (the National Renewables Infrastructure Project). This is looking at the ports and harbours infrastructure that the offshore renewables technologies will need. It will develop a spatial framework for port and port-side land infrastructure (including sites for integrated manufacturing, and maintenance/vessel support bases) which can support the manufacturing, construction, operation and maintenance of commercial wave, tidal and offshore wind devices.

  The findings from this work will be reported back in October 2009, and the findings will help inform future strategic investment decisions. As part of this work I will lead a trade mission to the German port of Bremerhaven, recognised as a leader in supporting offshore renewables.

Single Outcome Agreements

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25580 by John Swinney on 29 July 2009, what procedures are in place to assess local authorities’ reports on their contribution to the achievement of national and local outcomes highlighted in their single outcome agreements in order to determine whether they are making adequate progress towards their targets and outcomes.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25580 by John Swinney on 29 July 2009, how it will respond to local authorities’ reports on their contribution to the achievement of national and local outcomes highlighted in their single outcome agreements and whether the responses will be in the public domain.

John Swinney: The purpose of these reports is both to inform communities on progress as part of Local Authority public performance reporting duties and to set out the contribution being made in each local authority area to the delivery of the Government’s Purpose and National Outcomes. The reports will cover first round agreements now superseded by those agreed in June 2009, which for the first time encompass all Community Planning Partnerships in Scotland. Partnerships working with the Scottish Government, will use the reports to understand and track progress, learn lessons and implement continuous improvement.

Single Outcome Agreements

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25580 by John Swinney on 29 July 2009, what action will be taken if local authorities’ reports to the Scottish Government on their contribution to the achievement of national and local outcomes highlighted in their single outcome agreements do not indicate adequate progress towards targets and outcomes.

John Swinney: Outcome focused planning and delivery of services is a shared ambition of national and local government who are committed to working together to seek to resolve problems jointly. Partnerships working with the Scottish Government, will use the reports to understand and track progress, learn lessons and implement continuous improvement

Single Outcome Agreements

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to link local authorities’ single outcome agreements more closely with the targets and indicators in Scotland Performs.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the targets in local authorities’ single outcome agreements should correspond with the targets and indicators in Scotland Performs.

John Swinney: Public services in Scotland are now focussed on one over-arching Purpose, high level Purpose Targets and 15 National Outcomes. Progress is reported at that national level through Scotland Performs, with the 45 National Indicators providing an overall summary of Scotland’s progress at any given point in time.

  At a local level Single Outcome Agreements now reflect a Community Planning Partnership’s agreed outcomes for their local area, taking into account local circumstances and therefore the particular local priorities needed to make progress. Targets will in some cases be drawn from national measures but in the main also complemented by locally relevant indicators drawn from other sources. There is on-going work to develop an improved menu of local indicators. The link with Scotland Performs will be kept under review.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make an estimate of the volume and proportion of food from (a) supermarkets, (b) households, (c) restaurants and other eating establishments and (d) other sources that became food waste in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Richard Lochhead: The following table provides information.

  Food Waste from Various Sources (in Tonnes)

  

Year
Retail (inc. Supermarkets)
Household
Hotels and Restaurants
Other Sources
Total Food Waste


2005
160,226
487,231
150,873
765,024
1,563,354


2006
506,692
505,890
89,355
951,824
2,053,761


2007
539,396
510,396
98,062
979,233
2,127,087



  Source: Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Waste Management

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much paper was recycled by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Richard Lochhead: This is a matter for individual public sector bodies. The information requested is not held centrally.

Waste Management

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much paper was discarded by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Richard Lochhead: This is a matter for individual public sector bodies. The information requested is not held centrally.

Waste Management

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much material was discarded by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Richard Lochhead: This is a matter for individual public sector bodies. The information requested is not held centrally.

Waste Management

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much material was recycled by public sector bodies each year over the past three years.

Richard Lochhead: This is a matter for individual public sector bodies. The information requested is not held centrally.

Waste Management

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much food waste was produced by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Richard Lochhead: This is a matter for individual public sector bodies. The information requested is not held centrally.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Christmas Cards

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body for what reason it is not permitted to print the name of Members’ spouses on Scottish Parliament Christmas cards.

Tricia Marwick: : The Scottish Parliament Christmas card, for members’ use in their capacity as elected representatives, features the Scottish Parliament logo. There are specific rules in place relating to the Parliament’s logo which is an armorial bearing. These state that

  Members should not allow other people to use the logo. Any permitted use is for use by the member only and not by any other person.

  …and the logo is subject to heraldic, copyright and Trade Mark laws and that misuse of the logo or of Parliamentary stationery bearing the logo may result in legal action or may constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct.

  Members’ names can be included in the cards, but not names of specific family members such as spouses.